Legge's Thoughts: Georgia Bulldogs' Total Focus on Ohio State Now
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NEW YORK CITY - The clicking cameras and bright lights of the city are gone now. Georgia Bulldogs QB Stetson Bennett is heading back to Athens to return to his day job.
And to try to win the Bulldogs another national title. The task, daunting as it were, seems different this year. Coming off a lopsided loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game last year the questions were numerous.
Could Georgia ever beat Alabama?
Should Kirby Smart make a change at starting quarterback?
Was Georgia ever going to fulfill its promise and take home the title?
This year is quite different. Alabama is nowhere to be found. Bennett is firmly the starting QB at Georgia, and last year’s backup lost his job at West Virginia and is transferring for a third time. Thanks to Bennett’s fourth-quarter heroics, Georgia won it all.
But that was with the question 12 months ago: “Can” Georgia do it?
I can assure you... there was plenty of doubt. Self-hating Georgia fans seem to be the loudest.
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Now the focus turns to the team trying to win it all as the clear favorite. It is true, too, that Georgia was favored in both CFP games a year ago - by a touchdown over Michigan and by a field goal over the Tide.
They won both games by double digits.
No, the pressure is different now. We’ve seen Georgia do it. Now the question is if they can do it again. The answer is yes, but they actually have to go do it - and they should. Still, insiders acknowledge that Ohio State “appears” to be the most difficult matchup for Georgia. The Buckeyes are explosive, have a Heisman finalist starting at QB and now have a chip on their collective shoulders after being destroyed by Michigan at home. The same questions UGA was dealing with a year ago are the same ones Ohio State is dealing with now.
The challenge isn’t small. But with Bennett’s New York minute over, there are no further distractions for the Dawgs. The quick trip to the Big Apple was a great reward for Bennett - what he’s done for the program is hard to put into words. But his eyes have been on the prize for a while - and that prize is earned in Los Angeles; not given out in New York.
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“I have never thought about the Heisman,” he said Monday night in a statement. “I just wanted to play quarterback at Georgia.”
Only two games, at the most, remain in the conclusion of this Hollywood tale. And there is no guarantee that all endings are happy. UGA fans are experts at that particular subject.
Georgia has something to prove this year. It can prove that it is just fine with expectations. It can prove that last year wasn’t a one-off title. It can prove that this program has taken its rightful and earned spot atop the world of college football - at least for thisperiod of time.
But it will have to do it. There are no more distractions left.